Perils of Life
by NashMarquez
Summary: Having to handle crisis in the lab and a serious case, Horatio Caine meets someone who challenges his beliefs and principles to his limits. Would the challenge be welcomed? Would the challenge change him? Horatio/OC, Ryan/Natalia, slight Hiphugger.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: Thanks for dropping by!This story sets about slightly in the midst of season 6... Hopefully it's a change from what I wrote before this; the one I deleted off. :)

* * *

Red lights bouncing off the walls, sirens screeching and wailing and chattering surrounded the area. Approximately a yard away from the commotion, men is uniforms were scattered around the perimeters of the crime scene, taking notes from witnesses. Making his way towards the bloody mess, Horatio walked past Eric whom he noticed something odd about him but he assumed that was a normal reaction, given the situation.

Approaching his second-in-command, Horatio surveyed the body in a glimpse and shook his head slightly. The body was placed right at the doorstep of an old, vacant house. It was a horrible and horrid sight. The victim, whom he assumed to be about in his teens, was sitting in an upright sitting position, tied to the chair; at his ankles and waist. Blood had seeped through the cloth of his shirt and slowly dripping drop by drop onto the floor; forming a pool. He also noticed the card on the victim's forehead before Alexx bagged it up. He watched as Alexx and her staffs untie the body and transferred it into the body bag. Horatio noticed the gentleness of the way they handled the body considering that the head was almost decapitated from the body. Besides, rigor was starting to set in.

"Any ID on the victim?" Turning her focus towards her boss, Calleigh put down her camera.

"Not yet. There wasn't anything on the body."

"Who found him?" Calleigh pointed him into Frank's direction. He was questioning a man in a suit. Clearly, with men in construction wear were gathered near the truck, Horatio knew that the man being questioned was some realtor. He knew the house was about to be demolished for a new project since it looked really run down.

Horatio then watched as Calleigh picked her camera back up and start photographing the blood splatter on the walls of the walkway and on the door. This was definitely the primary scene. With his sunglasses in his hands, he tilted his head slightly as he observed the blood splatter and the direction. It was medium velocity splatter. Looking down on the ground, he noticed a drag mark, except, it wasn't towards the body but away. There were neither footprints nor shoeprints.

He walked away from the crime scene and towards Frank who was going through the notes he had written in his pad. He eyed the man in suit in an intimidating manner, causing him to fidget a little. Hand on hip, Horatio pushed his jacket back slightly, checking for his gun and smirked internally. He still got what it took to intimidate someone.

"Frank, what have we got?"

"Mr. Larson here called the cops when one of his workers found the body. He's saying that they found the body an hour ago when they got here." Horatio checked his watch. 9am. It was too early for a dead body. He nodded.

"I want the paperwork on this demolition and project by noon." They needed to know who ordered the demolition and who approved it. The house was definitely owned by someone even though it was vacant for long.

As Horatio turned back towards Calleigh, he noticed Eric standing in the middle of the front porch, watching as Alexx and her team rolled the body away from the crime scene. He noted the pale lips and the mortified look on his face. It was as if blood was drained out of his system and it was as if he had just seen a ghost. Horatio observed his former brother in law. He tilted his head slightly and pressed his lips tight as he mentally took notes of Eric's behavior. He watched the Cuban warily as he did his job.

It had been six months since he was shot in the head and here he was, already back at work. Horatio was worried that he was not mentally and emotionally ready yet for work but since he was given the greenlight from his therapist, he assumed that maybe he was just being overprotective. However, watching his reaction towards the bloody mess, his suspicions grew stronger. Horatio took his position right beside Calleigh while continuing to watch the Cuban. He didn't need Eric to see him watching every of his slightest moves.

Out of nowhere, Frank appeared behind Eric and Horatio noticed the slight jump in his shoulders when Frank tapped on him. He breathed a heavy sigh. He should have noticed this the moment Eric came back to work a month ago. He should have paid more attention on the well-being of his people. His family. He should have been able to tell when his colleagues were acting differently but he didn't until it was too late. He felt like such a failure.

"Is everything okay Horatio?" Startled, Horatio felt his heart race a little.

"Yeah. Could you take it from here? I've got somewhere to be."

"Sure. No problem. I'll update you on the case when you return." Horatio smiled appreciatively as he put on his sunglasses and walked away from the scene.

* * *

Horatio walked heavily through the door. He felt the aura of the place hit him the moment he stepped one foot into the clinic. The clean smell of the place triggered his memory of the last time he entered such a place. It was right after the death of Tim Speedle. He remembered the feeling it gave him the other time. It felt as if there were eyes watching and judging him. He never fancied therapists or psychologists. He never liked going to them. To him, it was useless. They were just going to sit there and listen to him ramble. It wasn't like they could do anything anyway yet they were being paid a huge amount of money. He never believed in them. His feelings aside, he walked up to the receptionist who was still on the phone. The moment he stepped forward, she took a few last notes and hung up to assist him.

"Ma'am." Horatio acknowledged the receptionist. "Is Dr. McCarthy in?"

"She's with a patient right now. But if you want to leave a note for her, I can relay it for you."

"It's okay. I'll wait."

As Horatio walked towards the waiting area, he heard the clicking of what he assumed to be the heels of a pair of shoes. Then he heard the receptionist speaking up, calling someone by their first name and then he heard his name. He turned, only to be greeted by a tall, medium built lady in her blouse and skirt with her hair in a bun.

"And here I thought I was going to die with a clean record." She chuckled in her sentence. Horatio noticed the distinctive accent in her words but he couldn't figure which. He caught a glimpse of a smile on her face; the corner of her lips tugged upward into a slight playful smile. He noticed the glint of cheeriness in her eyes. She reached out her hand. "Dr. Caitlyn McCarthy. And you must be Lieutenant Caine?"

Horatio eyed her movements before nodding and reaching out his hand; reciprocating the handshake offer. Caitlyn noticed the seriousness on his face and also his cold eyes. She looked around for other officers but seeing there was none, she understood that he was not there for police business. Breaking the handshake, she noticed the quickness of his hand returning to hold his sunglasses with both hands and fiddling with them. Once in a while however, she saw him gripping his gun holster, checking its presence.

"Sorry about the joke. It gets depressing in here sometimes." She smiled slightly, lightening the mood. "So, I assume you're not here for police business?"

"I'm here about Eric Delko. You released him a month ago." She noticed the hostility and the dead tone in his voice.

"I did, yes. What is this about Lieutenant?"

"Are you sure he's ready for it?"

"Are you questioning my judgment and my ethics?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I didn't at first but seeing the way he acted, I'm not convinced with your judgment."

"Are you saying that I am not doing my job properly Lieutenant? Because I do not appreciate you coming into my clinic to slander me." Her accent became a little stronger. He thought it sounded British but he just didn't know the origins of it. Though at the same time, he also thought it sounded New Yorkish. He decided to let it go. It wasn't important.

"I'm just skeptical and suspicious of your judgment and qualifications." Horatio continued eyeing her reaction. He noticed her irises turning into a darker shade of grey instead of a greyish-blue shade.

"Don't. Do not ever question my qualification. In case you haven't noticed, you just walked into one of the best psychological clinic in Miami and we do not welcome people like you who have something against us. And for your information, we have a reputation and we adhere to it. We took an oath." It irked her when someone doubted her capabilities. It annoyed her to her limits when her competency and qualification were questioned. Horatio started to notice her defensiveness.

"I only have something against people who jeopardize my lab and my people." Horatio tilted his head slightly. "And with all due respect _Doctor_, I am just here to clarify his release. But if your poor judgment affects the credibility of my lab, I will report you to the board."

"So you only care about your lab huh?" She scoffed. Horatio took a deep breath, composing himself.

"Eric Delko is family. I care about him." Horatio paused, still fiddling with his sunglasses. "I suggest… as a therapist, you should take your _oath_ seriously and at least _pretend_ to care."

This time, it was her turn to take a deep breath. Her jaws tightened upon hearing his words. The tips of her ears were reddening.

"A preacher aren't you Lieutenant Caine? You're no different from me really. Not exactly a man of your own words. If you actually cared about him, you wouldn't be here in my clinic right now. You would have been with him, caring and asking him about his well-being. And you, being the person he trusted the most, definitely won't be treating him differently like the rest. So if you want to talk to me about caring for my patients, look in the mirror and ask yourself this _'Do you care enough?'_"

Horatio's eyes, instead of focusing and maintaining eye contact with the fiery doctor, they were now focused on his sunglasses in his hands. He furrowed his brows. She was wrong. He cared. Of course he cared. He mentally scoffed. She didn't know him. She didn't know anything about him. Who did she think she was? Judging him just like that? He looked back up at her with words at the tip of his tongue, ready to tell her that she didn't know anything about him and she shouldn't be judging other people baselessly. His mind however, blanked out and failed him when he met her cold, flinty eyes. Maybe she was right. He mentally berated himself and asked the question she had asked him. _Did he care enough?_ What did she mean by him treating Eric differently? Did he really treat him differently? Did he isolate him?

Horatio sighed internally. Maybe he didn't care enough. She was right. Instead of being there, in the clinic, questioning a qualified doctor, he should have been with Eric, talking about it over coffee maybe. As a friend. As a brother. He had once again failed.

Caitlyn noticed the crestfallen look on his face and the disappointment in his electric blue eyes.

"I'm not saying that you don't care about Eric. I know you do but just take some time, sit with him and talk. Ask him about anything. He trusts you and I am sure he will open up to you. I can only give you this much. Don't treat him like he's incapable of doing things. Give him some time to adapt. And you of all people Lieutenant, should give him the support he needs. Don't doubt him."

Horatio sighed softly. He would take her suggestions into consideration but life is taking a toll on him. He and Eric have drifted apart too much for him to just walk up to him and ask how he was doing. Ever since the death of Speed, Raymond and his wife, Marisol, Horatio realized that he just drifted away from everyone in his team. He didn't want to build any attachment with them for fear he would lose them. He knew what the risks of their jobs are. They never knew when their last day on earth would be.

"Lieutenant, unless you have anything else, I have work to do. Just keep in mind what I just said." Still fiddling with his glasses on one hand, his other hand went to his hips to again, check his gun. He nodded and they parted.

* * *

Horatio strode into the lab, looking for Calleigh. His thoughts about Eric aside, he needed to catch up with her on the case. With his sunglasses at the tip of his fingers, his eyes focused on them as his feet brought him to the trace lab. As he entered, Calleigh greeted him with a cheery _'hello'_. He shook his head, thinking of how one could be cheerful still despite all the awful things they handle with every day.

"Found anything yet?" He asked as he placed his sunglasses on the table. He tilted his head slightly as watched Calleigh photograph the fingerprint then watch as it transferred to the computer.

"I lifted a print off the doorknob. Still running it through the system. Maybe it could lead us somewhere. But we haven't gotten any ID on the victim. Alexx was looking for you though…"

"Alright. I'll be down at the morgue if you need me." Before Calleigh could reply him, he was gone in a split second. She had always wondered how his movements mimicked a cat; quiet and quick.

Horatio arrived at the morgue when Alexx was busy cleaning her tools and he didn't want to disturb her. He waited at the end of the slab while he studied the partially covered body in front of him. He was too young to be lying on the slab. He looked to be around Kyle's age. Horatio shook his head.

"Good lord Horatio! You scared me!" Alexx jumped, holding her palm against her chest. He smiled sheepishly at her remarks.

"You got something for me?"

"The report on his ID just came in. You were right on time. I found dental implants so I pulled his records." Alexx handed him the manila folder.

"Anything on the victim?"

"Unfortunately, no. But I can tell you this, the killer definitely knows what he's doing. The wound was clean and it cut through the carotid artery. Probably used a single-edged knife. And I've sent the card that I found on the body for trace." He smiled appreciatively then headed back up to his office to go through the records.

Not wasting any minute, Horatio opened the folder as he walked to his office. The very first page caught his attention. It was a close-up portrait of the victim. Compared to the body on the slab in the morgue, the picture showed more life. His lips were pinkish and his eyes were full of life and color. He flipped over the page and continued reading.

Marcus Fitzgerald. 17 years old. Before reaching to his office, Horatio made the dreaded phone call to the parents of the victim to inform them the bad news. As shocked as he might be, he wasn't surprised that the parents were busy and out of town but what made him sick to his stomach was that they prioritized their work rather than their son. They notified Horatio that they would fly back once they were done with instead of taking the next flight out. Slamming the folder close, he decided that he would check on Eric, only to see him in the trace lab with the evidence bag in his hand and a notepad in another. Perhaps this was the time to talk to him.

"Eric? You okay there?" Nervous and heart-stricken, he fumbled with the evidence bag and the notepad in his hands, causing each of it to fall on the table and the floor respectively.

"Sorry H." He took a deep, pained breath as his eyes followed his boss's movements to pick the notepad up.

"It's time we have a talk, Eric."

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Care to tell me your opinions or any critics you have? Just hit the review button! Thanks! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: To The Critic, I really appreciate you giving me constructive reviews and it has helped in bettering my story :)

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Eric Delko stared at his boss, his brother. His heart started thumping hard he could hear it in his ears. His palm began sweating as Horatio took a glance at the notepad in his hand. Reading through and understanding what was written on the notepad, he let out a deep breath.

"H, it's not what you think it is." He didn't try to break eye contact with his boss although his mind screamed for him to run. He stayed put and was ready to face the circumstance. He knew this was coming.

"These are methods to evidence processing. What's going on?"

"Nothing. Everything is fine H."

"Eric, I don't want to do this but I can't have the lab in jeopardy."

"Wait. Are you firing me because of a notepad?" Eric Delko, being a temperamental, raised his voice slightly at his boss, questioning his judgment.

"I'm putting you on paid leave. Until you get everything sorted out. And I talked to Dr. McCarthy." At that, Eric snapped. He felt as if Horatio had invaded his personal and private life by talking to his therapist.

"Fine! And I don't need you meddling with my personal problems." He huffed then took off his gloves roughly and hung his labcoat before storming out of the lab, rendering Horatio speechless.

Sighing, Horatio pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed. He was angry at himself for not handling the situation well. _Do you care enough? _Those words that Dr. McCarthy said played in his mind repeatedly. He promised that he would talk to Eric; to try to understand what he was going through and to let him open up but he failed to do that one job. They had become strangers to one another. They were no longer brothers. They were simply just colleagues who only just said their hi's and byes. He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face.

From where he stood, Horatio aimed the notepad to the bin and threw it in directly. He slammed his palms on the table and looked around at the evidence that Eric had left for him. He was one man short and he had to step up. Ryan was working on the background of the victim, Natalia was working on documents that the contractor had forwarded to them and Calleigh was busy with the fingerprint. Stepping up, he gloved up and picked the evidence bag that contained the victim's bloodied clothes. The moment he dragged the knife through the tape and opened the bag, a whiff of air hit him and he could smell the coppery scent of the blood. He frowned and cringed.

"Out of touch already Lieutenant?" Horatio looked up and flashed a quiet and shy smile at his second in command.

"I'll never get used to the smell of blood." Calleigh shook her head. She knew he would never get used to it. She wouldn't too. "You got anything for me?"

"Not yet. I'm running the fingerprints nation-wide now." Horatio nodded, acknowledging her. "Actually…" He looked back up at her and raised his eyebrow slightly. "I saw Eric storm out."

"He's got something to attend to." Horatio became snappy.

"Really? Because I heard everything." Calleigh tried pushing him further for information.

"Calleigh, let's just focus on the case." She shrugged and let it go mainly because she knew Horatio wasn't easy to cave.

He went back to the evidence when Calleigh left him on his own. He laid out the clothes from one end of the table to the other end. The amount of blood had literally covered the front of the shirt and the top of the pants. Despite all the blood, he had to find anything foreign that didn't belong there. It was going to be a long day for him. Putting on the orange glasses, he turned off the lights and started flashing the black light onto the shirt. There was nothing out of the ordinary. That was only until he flashed the light onto the pants and he found something. Picking it up with the tweezers, Horatio studied the hair, looking for any follicles for DNA tracing. He sighed when his search failed.

He moved on. Bagging the piece of brown hair, he put it aside for mineral tests later. While still on the clothes, he cut several random pieces of the shirt to test for foreign DNA contributor. Waiting for the results, he pondered and questioned himself if he had done enough to care for Eric. He had always cared about him. He would even put his life before himself but after what happened to Marisol and to Speedle, they never really talked anymore and he didn't know what went on in Eric's life. In the past, he would know about Eric's partying lifestyle and the women but now, it was like he never knew him anymore.

* * *

Eric Delko sat across his therapist, staring into blank space. He was angry. He was furious at Horatio for invading his privacy; for meeting his therapist. At the same time, he was mad at himself for betraying Horatio's trust. He should have heeded the advice that Dr. McCarthy gave him. He had wanted to prove to them so much that he had hurt Horatio.

"He cares for you. You know that right?"

"I do. But it's just…he's different. We're different now. We're not like how we used to be in the past. He used to be closer to us, to the team. He used to smile and joke around. Have fun. But now, he keeps himself away from us. I know he's a private man but he's not him anymore."

"And how do you feel about that?" Eric looked up at his therapist, making eye contact.

"I don't know. But I know I hurt him. I can see it in his face."

"You were upset. I'm sure he understands."

"No. The last time he had that look on his face was when Ryan jeopardized the lab because of his gambling addiction. And today, I saw it again and it was because of my actions. I should have taken your advice."

"Let's not dwell on that. Have you figured your next step?" Eric looked away. He stared at the window, looking at the clear sky. Perhaps he could just leave it as it was and pretend as if nothing happened. "Have you thought about talking to him?" Her voice brought him back from his own thoughts.

"No. He's not exactly the talking kind." She looked at him with a pondering look. She figured that Horatio wasn't the talking kind. The way he spoke had proved it. His sentences were short and brief. It was to the point kind of conversation. Maybe bringing them together could help.

* * *

"Horatio, we got a match on the fingerprint. Frank's bringing him in as we speak." Horatio nodded as he packed the evidence back into the bag and logged it back in. Just as he finished logging in the evidence, the results of the DNA on the shirt printed. He scanned through it. No foreign DNA. Back to square one while he waited for the results of the mineral testing on the hair. For now, he had someone waiting for him. Michael Hardman. A lawyer.

_This is going to be interesting. _He thought as he made his way down to the interrogation room. Horatio entered the room, studying the man in suit who was looking around. Frank was already seated and waiting for him.

"So Lieutenant, based on what charges are you holding me here?"

"Mr. Hardman, we found your fingerprint at our crimescene. You want to explain how it got there?"

"I don't think so." Horatio opened the folder and slammed the photo of the crime scene under his nose.

"This young boy was killed this morning and your fingerprint was found right where he was found." He turned to Frank. "And we also found a hair that coincidentally matches your hair color. I would say this is enough to link you to the murder isn't it Sergeant Tripp?" Frank stared into his partner's eyes. He was slightly different from normal but he couldn't point a finger on anything.

The suspect took another look at the photo. "I was there a couple of days ago. Just visiting an old house. But I don't know anything about the murder. If you want to check my alibi, feel free."

"You wanna give us a hair sample?"

"No thank you Lieutenant. I know my rights and as long as you don't have anything on me, I'm a free man. So gentlemen, if there's nothing else, I need to get back to my clients."

"Don't go far."

"I can assure you I won't." With that, Michael Hardman walked out of the interrogation room as a free man.

"A bit too cocky don't you think, Francis?"

"He's a lawyer. What d'ya expect H."

"Well there's that." Horatio chuckled slightly. His phone started ringing. _Unknown Caller._ "I'll be right there." Without saying a word to Frank, he just left, leaving Frank confused.

* * *

Horatio Caine made his way into the place he dreaded the most once again. Dr. McCarthy had called him for reasons he wasn't sure of. She told him over the phone that they needed to talk about Eric. As soon as he walked in, the receptionist called out for him and told him to go straight into the office. Dr. McCarthy was waiting for him. He knew for one that they were going to have a conversation about Eric but he didn't know what. He figured he would go along with it anyway but that was until he saw Eric when he opened the door. Surprised was an understatement. He looked at Dr. McCarthy then at Eric who was seated calmly on the couch.

"What's this about? An intervention?" Now he didn't like where this was going. Eric could have come to him on his own instead of involving a therapist. Eric had worked with him for almost a decade and should know by now that he didn't like seeing therapists.

"Have a seat Lieutenant. We're just going to have a little chat."

"About what?" Horatio asked in a defensive tone as he took a seat on the one-seater chair adjacent to the couch Eric was sitting on.

"About what happened between you and Eric. About this fallout."

"There's nothing going on." She noticed that Horatio was getting snappier as minutes passed by. He was fidgety and he kept playing with his sunglasses. She let him be. Maybe that was his defense mechanism.

"That's not what I heard from Eric. I think it is only right if we solve whatever issues that the both of you have. Maybe even repair your relationship." She observed the lieutenant opposite her. He rubbed his hand over his face. He ran his fingers through his hair. He was shaking his leg up and down.

"There is nothing wrong with us. I've got a case to solve and I have no time for this."

"Why are you so snappy Lieutenant? Is there something about this room that is bothering you? Or maybe the company?" Horatio glanced over at Eric who was staring at him, waiting for a reply.

"Fine. You want to talk? Okay. Let's talk." He huffed. Eric sighed.

"What is it that's bothering you?"

"You said talk. Not psychoanalyzing me." She clenched her jaw in frustration. He was being really uncooperative and it was really not helping the situation. She had never met a man so stubborn and pigheaded like him. He irked her so much.

"Alright. Let's get straight to the point then. You found the notepad, you put him on leave and you're upset with him.

"You don't know that."

"H, enough man. I just want to talk to you and you're not even helping with this." Horatio turned towards Eric and sighed. He mentally scolded himself for being a douche to Eric.

"You could've come to me to talk. We didn't need a therapist to be in the room."

"I wanted her here. Because she knows what I'm going through. I saw your face when I left the lab and I know you felt betrayed. Like I've let you down again. And I'm sorry for that. But I just needed to be back at the lab. I needed something to hold on to. Marisol's gone. Tim's gone. And you…" Horatio let out a long, low sigh as his eyes shifted its focus to his hands.

"And I wasn't there for you."

"You pushed us away after her death. After Tim's death. After Raymond…it's like we didn't matter to you anymore."

"You still matter Eric. The team still matters to me. A lot."

"Then why H? Why push us away?" Once again, he sighed aloud except this time, he jerked up on his feet.

"Enough Eric. I'm not having this talk anymore." Horatio walked out of the office and took at seat just outside the room. Leaning forward, elbows on his laps, he pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand.

"Eric, just give me a minute." She stepped out to look for Horatio only to find him outside her office, seated on the bench. She shook her head slightly before taking a seat beside him. "Lieutenant…"

"Horatio please."

"Alright then Horatio. I know it was unethical of me to approve him to go back to work when I know he wasn't fully ready. That was my fault but I hope you understand where he was coming from. He's reaching out but the both of you have drifted apart too much for him to reach out to you. It's really none of my business how you run your life or relationships but if it concerns him, then it is my business." Horatio looked up at her and she noticed the sorrow and pain in his eyes. His eyes were vacant.

"I know he wants to repair what you've got with each other. The brotherhood you have with him. But it takes two hands to clap Horatio. The question is, how far are you willing to open up to him; to let him in to repair what you had?"

"You make it sound like I have a romantic relationship with him." Even though his lips weren't tugged into a smile, she could see the slight smile in his eyes.

"Well, do you?" Her lips tugged into a playful smile and he returned with one of his shy smile.

"No. I can assure you that."

"No judgment there. You know, clinic hour's almost over. Maybe if you want to talk about it, off the record and with no charge…"

"Uhh…"

"Come on. Don't be arrogant. Maybe we could start back with a right foot because we didn't exactly meet under the right circumstances. We can grab a bite, have a chat, maybe help you with repairing what you have with Eric. My treat. I owe you that." He blushed when his stomach started growling. "I guess that's a yes?"

He tugged a shy smile. "I'll be at the carpark."

She went back into her office and told Eric everything was going to be alright and that perhaps Horatio did the right thing. He needed some time off to settle his personal issues and wait for an official clearance from her.

* * *

With her hair let down, Caitlyn McCarthy stepped out of her sky blue Ferrari. She waited for Horatio to arrive since he followed her from the back. She watched as he parked his white Maserati.

"Sorry. I lost you along the way. But I figured from the route, you were heading here."

"Lose the jacket."

"Excuse me?"

"We're at a diner, not a restaurant. Lose it. It's a warm night anyway." She was right. It was a warm night. He found himself agreeing with her on that. "And since your car is parked all the way at the end and I don't like to waste time, you can leave your jacket in my car and pick it up later. Because I'm really hungry."

With knife in his left, Horatio cut into his steak. As he fed himself, he watched as she took a bite out of her Bronx Burger. She even had onion rings as a side and also a vanilla milkshake while he only had coffee. And on top of that, she had ordered ice-creams for the both of them.

"Doc…" Before he could finish his sentence, she cut him off.

"Just Caitlyn. I don't like being called doctor outside my clinic. I may be proud being a McCarthy, but Caitlyn's my name. Or just call me Kate if you'd like."

"Okay. I'll stick with Caitlyn. When Eric told you.." Once again, he didn't get to finish his sentence. He clenched his jaws.

"Doctor-patient privilege. I said I could help you with repairing your relationship, not reveal what he told me. I know you won't talk about your relationship with Eric and I know you wanted to talk about what's going on with him. So if I'm actually right, let's just eat in silence alright?" Taken aback, Horatio frowned but she was right. If they had nothing else to talk about, they might as well keep quiet.

_Yeah. So much for starting again with the right foot._ He thought to himself. They continued eating in silence. He never talked about Eric or asked anything. That was until their ice-creams were sent to them.

"Are we really playing this silence game? I know you're not a man of words but seriously. I ate my way through a burger in silence. Are you sure I'm not attending a cow funeral for the meat we ate?" Horatio clenched his jaws again as he looked up at her. Her eyes twinkled with playfulness just like when he met her the first time and she made a stupid joke.

"Cows have no funerals. They do slaughtering." She raised an eyebrow. "Nevermind." He was so bad at jokes. It was definitely not his strong point but it seemed like jokes weren't her strong point either. She smiled at the very least, which progressed to a low chortle, that elicited a soft chuckle from him. Horatio noticed the smile on her face, with her scrunched up nose and the spark in her eyes. The left side of her thin rosy lips slightly tugged upward into a slight playful smile.

"Maybe silence is indeed golden."

"I agree." Horatio returned her smile with one of his rare boyish smile.

* * *

Care to tell me your opinions or any critics you have? Just hit the review button! Thanks! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: Thank you for your reviews and support!

* * *

Standing across the room, Horatio watched the pair of parents as they were seated and stared at him. He had brought them to see their son but there was still not much remorse in them. Normal parents would have already broken down but them, they were calm. If he was honest with himself, they were too calm and they didn't look as concerned or as distraught as he would have expected from a parent who just lost their only son. Yet, they still stayed in the room, keeping silent; maybe grieving silently.

"Do you know who would want to hurt your son?" Both parents looked at each other then shrugged their shoulders. "When was the last time you saw him?" Horatio didn't get any reply from any of them.

"I'd say about a week ago wasn't it Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald?" Horatio turned to the voice. Ryan Wolfe was standing at the door with a manila folder in his hands. He leaned back into the chair, allowing Ryan to continue.

"Probably."

"Of course…" Ryan replied. "You were out of town on a business trip. Your son was missing a week ago. The school tried to contact you but you were too busy to care. And from what I heard, you were never involved in anything your son does. Well…you're in luck now. You don't have to get involved anymore."

"We're busy." Horatio shook his head. "You know how life is." Exactly at that moment, the phone started ringing and Mr. Fitzgerald was quick to answer the call. Mrs. Fitzgerald on the other hand, just stared into the photo of her son until her phone too, started ringing.

"We've got to leave. We have work. And I really hope you can release our boy soon because we're leaving in a few days on a business trip." Speechless, Horatio grabbed the manila folder and walked out of the room with an immediate moral judgment. He knew he was supposed to be indifferent but he was a father and it was a basic instinct to care for a son.

As Horatio made his way back into the office, he fished out his phone to see if there was any missed call. He had been waiting for calls from Eric Delko. After the altercation the other day in the clinic, he hadn't heard from Eric and as much as he wanted to make the first move, he wanted to give Eric his personal space. Just like Dr. McCarthy had advised him, he was giving Eric some time to figure everything out but he had expected Eric to at least tell him that he was doing fine. He breathed a heavy sigh as he shoved the phone back into his jacket.

He watched him team from inside his office. Natalia and Ryan were laughing and smiling. Their interactions and their casual bickering had him smiling. How he wished he could return to the time when he had that kind of relationship with them; with Calleigh…and especially Eric. Self-loathing began to consume him. Eric was right. He was the one who pushed the team away. He was the one pulled himself from them, turning himself into a lone ranger. He leaned his head back on the chair and closed his eyes.

_You pushed us away after her death…After Tim's death. After Raymond…_The hurt in Eric's eyes kept haunting him. The pain in his voice was loud in his ears. _I needed something to hold on to._ Horatio shook his head, trying to push away those thoughts. Still leaning back, he pinched the bridge of his nose. _Do you care enough? _He heard the voice again. Her voice kept playing those words again and again in his head. Clearly, he didn't care enough. Clearly, as much as he tried, it just wasn't enough. It wasn't that he didn't care. He cared…and that was why he kept himself away. His heart started beating rapidly. He could hear it in his ears. Three beats. Then it stopped. Then again-three beats.

"Horatio!" His eyes shot open.

"Calleigh."

"You okay?"

"I'm good. What's up?"

"Nat just found a link between the lawyer and the house but we still can't link anything else."

"He did say he was visiting a childhood place. What else you got?"

"Nothing else really…there's insufficient evidence. We kept going back to the evidence but there's nothing new. We even went back to the crime scene but still nothing. Though…the hair I ran through, it tested positive for iron deficiency."

"Did you get a warrant for Mr. Hardman's hair?"

"We did. And he tested negative for iron deficiency. And we can't test for DNA either." Horatio let out a deep sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. Since he had his sleeves rolled up, Calleigh could literally see the muscle tense in his arm.

"I want you to run background check on Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald."

"But we've already done that."

"I want you to look deeper. There must be something. They're too unconcerned about their son's death." Unable to come up with any argument to refuse his demands, Calleigh made her way out. She wanted as much as Horatio, to catch the killer and they had to try everything.

* * *

**_A week later_**

Stepping on the engine of his hummer, Horatio gripped his steering wheel tight and hard. He had received a dispatch call to a location, reporting a code-31; a homicide. He had to rush to the location because it was reported that the person who found the body had run his car into a fire hydrant. Ryan was right behind him, also speeding his way through to the location. Arriving at location, he pressed on the brakes and the hummer skidded, causing a screeching sound.

The fire hydrant was spraying everywhere. The moment they arrived, their hummers were instantly drenched. Horatio ran and rushed to the back of his hummer to retrieve his wrench while Ryan dashed straight to the body with a plastic cover. They needed to preserve every bit of evidence and traces on the body since it was already drenched. Trying as he might, he couldn't get the plastic to cover every area of the body. The piece of plastic kept slipping out of his fingers. He himself was drenched. He only managed to cover the top of the body but at least they could preserve any traces on the wounds.

Horatio on the other hand, kneeled on the ground, with wrench gripped tight in his hands tried to turn and twist on the lever. He groaned a guttural sound at the twist of the lever. He felt every muscle in his arms tense up. The first attempt was a failure. Water was dripping off his hair, his face, and his ears. He didn't bother wiping them. He had to stop the hydrant. He gave it another try, gripping the wrench tighter than before and twisted the lever with every ounce of strength he had left. Leaning forward on his palms, he breathed hard. _Finally._

"H! Get the driver!" Still panting, Horatio rushed to the driver to check his condition only to breathe in relief when the driver was doing just fine except for minor shock.

Ryan tried to salvage whatever that was left. It was probably already compromised but they had to give it a shot. Noticing that the slashing looked similar to their recent victim, he looked around for the Ace of Spades and found it near the drain; soaked. Horatio made his way towards the body, which was laid vertically on the steps of the playground. It was a female victim this time and she looked about the same age as the previous one.

"Found the same card. Prolly the same one H." He surveyed and studied the park. Open space just like the previous victim and in the early hours of the day. He looked for any signs of a drag mark but there was none. Blood was soaked through the rubber mat while the body was dripping with diluted blood. With any blood splatter washed away, they couldn't determine if the playground was their primary crime scene.

"Let's get whatever we can and get back to the lab." By then, Alexx had already claimed the body and transferred it to the morgue.

"H I don't think we're gonna get anything. The body was contaminated. And the crime scene's washed off." Horatio looked around him and he realized that Ryan was right. The whole place was contaminated and there was nothing left for them. They had arrived a little too late for them to collect any evidence. Meanwhile, Frank Tripp had made his way to the ER with the driver to take down his statement of what he saw.

"Then I hope surveillance tapes will help." Horatio said as he pointed to the surveillance camera nearby.

* * *

Standing at the receptionist desk, Caitlyn McCarthy laid the clothe hanger gently, not wanting any part of the jacket to crinkle. She looked around for the receptionist but there was none. She tapped her fingers repeatedly for what seemed to be minutes for her but in actual fact; it had only been a few seconds. That was until she heard a soft voice belonging to a woman; greeting and asking if she needed help.

"Hi. Is Lieutenant Caine in?" She smiled appreciatively to the blonde who had offered to help her.

"He's out in the field. Is there anything I can pass to him? Or you could leave your name and I can have him call you?" The elevator dinged.

"Yeah sure. If it's no trouble at all." Caitlyn picked the jacket up from the desk.

"Speak of the devil." Caitlyn turned around, finding a soaked up red-head, with his hair sticking onto his scalp.

"Ma'am."

"This lady here is asking for you." Horatio nodded at Calleigh and turned his attention to Caitlyn. Her blond hair was let down, unlike the other days. Her strong flowery perfume surrounded his senses, masking the scent of his own.

"I take it the weather forecast was wrong about a sunny day?" She smiled a cheeky smile.

"Just a fire hydrant." He noticed the cringe on her face.

"Was it purple?" He nodded. "Ugh. Well I guess today's your lucky day then. I've got your jacket with me but I hope you don't mind that I've sent it to the drycleaners. Sorry it took me a week to return it. I was out of town attending a conference."

Horatio nodded again; this time, with a smile. He knew she was out of town. The day after they went for dinner, he realized that he had forgotten to take his jacket from her car and when he tried to call her, she was unreachable. He even went to her clinic in an attempt to meet her but was told that she had just flown out of the country for a conference. He took the jacket from her and realized that this was his opportunity to ask her about Eric. Maybe not something with doctor-patient privilege. He just needed to know how Eric was doing.

"Alright. It was nice seeing you Horatio." She said as she started making her way towards the elevator.

"Hold on." She stopped and turned. "I need to ask you something."

"What is it? Because I'm really late to get my lunch and I need to get food for me to function properly."

"Give me a few minutes would you? I'm just going to get changed." She huffed in annoyance that she had to wait a few minutes. She was starving already and she had to wait. She bit the inside of her cheeks to refrain herself from lashing out.

Opening his locker, Horatio realized he had no extra shirt that he could change into and the only thing that was in the locker was his pants and an undershirt. He had forgotten to bring a new shirt for back up. He had to go with whatever he had inside the locker. Minutes went by and Caitlyn felt like it had been hours. Her stomach was growling in hunger and she kept peering into the locker room to see if Horatio was coming out. Another look and he was there, walking in the jacket that she brought along. Only this time, he was wearing a white tee inside.

* * *

Caitlyn settled down in the corner of the café with her double espresso and cheesesteak sandwich in her hands. Horatio followed along with his long black coffee. As he settled down in front of her, she eyed him warily; curious to what he was going to ask her. She observed as he looked down at his shirt, feeling conscious and trying to straighten himself.

"You don't look so bad in that you know." His head shot up. _You don't look so bad yourself. _He had heard that line before. He stared at her subconsciously as he heard the voice played in his head. It was the voice of the woman he couldn't save.

"How's Eric?" With the cheesesteak still in her mouth, she stopped chewing and glowered at him. Rage began to consume her as she fixated her eyes on him. This man was testing her patience.

"You have got to be kidding me right? Are you always this stubborn?" She raised her voice but toned down when she realized he wasn't going to back down. He watched her, waiting for her to answer his question. Glowering at him did not work for her a little bit when his electric blue eyes caught her attention. She clenched her jaws. She wanted to tell him off; to just leave but she couldn't. She couldn't do that to a man who had such desperation and pain in his eyes. She studied his face and she knew that it was the face of a man who had suffered enough; a man who had been living in pain and guilt. She could see the lines of weariness on his face. But even with all that, she still couldn't reveal any information. She was bounded by the doctor-patient privilege.

Caitlyn placed her cheesesteak down and wiped her mouth. She pursed her lips slightly as she kept a steady eye contact with the red-head. She took a silent but deep breath to calm herself down. She needed him to understand that she wasn't a threat. He noticed her softened features. Her greyish-blue eyes were as calm as the sea and her lips tugged into a soft assuring smile. He stared at her with a blank mind, as if captivated but not having a single clue what she was doing. Her eyes were so calm he couldn't read her. He gulped. He felt at ease for once. Her eyes; they had a calming effect on him. The only time he felt like that was when a set of brown eyes looked at him lovingly and they belonged to his wife; his late wife. He shook himself from thinking about her.

"Horatio, I know you care about him and I don't doubt that but you need to know that the only way you can help him is to give him space. I know you're blaming yourself for what happened but trust me, it's not your fault." As if in a trance, Horatio was speechless. He felt something warm on his hand and his eyes trailed down.

"It's my fault." His eyes still fixated on the small hand on top of his own. "I couldn't save them all. Eric was right. I pushed them away."

"Horatio, you listen to me. You can never save everyone because you're only human. You put too much on yourself and I know people around you put that on you too. You feel obligated to save them all. You feel that it's your responsibility but it's not and you need to stop thinking that it is your responsibility."

"It's my job to save them. It's my responsibility." She recognized the tone of self-blaming and she noticed that his bravado was starting to falter.

"Your job is to hunt criminals; to put them where they belong, to arrest them and put them behind bars. That's all you need to do. You have to know that you are not anything more superior to a human being. You couldn't control what happened to them." She noticed that he still hadn't taken his eyes off their hand contact. _Bad decision Caitlyn McCarthy! _He was connecting and he was opening up and she couldn't just jerk away for fear that this would take a horrible turn. She knew better than to leave when someone was reaching out.

"Look at me Horatio…" Surprisingly, that worked easily on him as he lifts his eyes off their hands and looked at her. Staring into his blue eyes, she felt a sense of lightness in her when she saw the ease in them. She pulled her hand away gently and his eyes went back down, watching as the warmth of her hand disappeared from his. "You have got to stop blaming yourself. And don't worry about Eric. He's a grown man." She smiled softly when she noticed the corner of his lips tugged into a tiny smile. She couldn't help but notice the wrinkle at the corner of his eyes and his thin, rosy lips. It curved slightly at the corners and he had a nice defined upper lip.

Caitlyn glanced away and picked up her bag quickly. "Well…uhh…I've got an appointment in a few and uhm..thanks for lunch." She stood and was ready to leave. "And Horatio, just keep in mind what I said." With her right facing him, Caitlyn gave him a final look through the corner of her eyes then gave a tiny, assuring smile which he then noticed her dimple that he never noticed before.

* * *

With a slumped posture, Lieutenant Caine walked through the door of the morgue to follow up with the recent case. He wasn't hoping much because he knew he wasn't going to get much from it. The body and the crime scene had been washed off and even if they had anything, it would be too disintegrated for any DNA matches or to even stand in trial. Rubbing his eyes, he approached the table.

"Rough day Horatio?" He didn't reply but only offered a weary smile.

"What have you got there?"

"Definitely the same killer. Bloodwork's clean. No defense wounds or even any signs of abuse. The killer cut through the carotid artery but there's nothing useful on the body. But you know that already. DNA came up with a Lea Lambert. Reported missing a week ago. That's all I have for you."

Ryan Wolfe slouched on the chair, feet on the desk, all the while staring into the screen, watching hours' worth of surveillance. He had been watching ever since they received the tapes four hours ago and he was getting restless. There was nothing out of the extraordinary in the tapes except for the car hitting the fire hydrant. There was not even a sign of a killer in the vicinity. Definitely, the killer knew what he was doing.

"Mr. Wolfe. Got anything yet?" Horatio entered the AV lab and glanced over at the screen.

"Not—"

"Replay that," Ryan sat up straight, focusing at the part Horatio asked to replay. And there it was. He hadn't noticed that before Horatio pointed it out. "Bring the driver in. We'll have a chat."

* * *

"Your 50 grand has just been wired in. This will be the last time I contact you. If you intend to bail on us, that's on you and you only," said a rough voice over the phone.

* * *

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